Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Jobs & the Economy: Simplified

I like my information 2 ways: simple & visual.

Despite being a massive, complex system, The Economy & it's problems can still be explained in terms that anyone can understand.

I saw this graphic on Bartcop.com & thought it summed up the effect of "Free Trade" on American jobs quite nicely:


As far as the financial sector aka. 'Wall Street' goes, this video I saw on WRH also succinctly outlines the reality of America's indentured servitude:



I also came across this chart on DailyKos that illustrates the sources of the budget deficit. The 'deficit hawks' who demand cuts to 'entitlement' programs & government services as top priority are wrong.


Our first steps to restoring fiscal sanity should actually be to:

1) Slash the hell out of military spending & end our foreign occupations. Democracy over Empire. (Crazy, I know.)

2) Eliminate corporate tax loopholes gamed by mega-industries like Big Oil.
3) Let the Bush Administration's plutocratic tax cuts expire on those making over $250,000. Of course, some of America's financial elite will bitch & moan about any kind of tax increase, no matter how wealthy they become. As someone who is content to make a modest living, I have absolutely no sympathy for the extra thousands of dollars they may have to sacrifice. They can go hide on their yachts and cry about it into a golden handkerchief for all I care.

This final chart shows the disproportional benefit of Bush's tax cuts for the super-rich:


This was just one of the countless ways George W. Bush deceived & sabotaged the average plebeians in this country during his regressive 8 years in office. Obama's only had over a year to dig out of the cesspool, but there is still a mountain of crap to clear & he's not digging nearly fast enough.

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